Inclusion of Pediococcus acidilactici as probiotic candidate in diets for beluga (Huso huso) modifies biochemical parameters and improves immune functions.

Administration of probiotic candidates in fish has generally been shown as a useful strategy to improve growth performance, survival, digestive enzyme activity, and gut microbiota. Unfortunately, the sero-immunological responses of different fish to different probiotic candidates are poorly understood. The present study assessed the effect of Pediococcus acidilactici as a probiotic on the biochemical and immunological parameters of beluga. Fish (248.32 ± 10.21 g) were fed a control diet (without P. acidilactici( and three different doses of P. acidilactici-supplemented diets (107, 108, and 109 CFUg-1 diets) for 8 weeks. On week 8, blood and serum were sampled. Dose-dependent increase of immunological parameters (respiratory burst activity, lysozyme content, serum antibacterial activity, and total immunoglobulin) and biochemical parameters (total protein and albumin levels) was observed. However, alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were significantly increased in the juvenile beluga fed by 109 CFUg-1 P. acidilactici-supplemented diet compared to the other groups. Based on the results of this evaluation, it is reasonable to conclude that the inclusion of P. acidilactici as probiotic in diets for juvenile beluga improves the sero-immunological parameters of the fish and should be considered by farmers as a strategy to improve fish health.

ISLAM, INEQUALITY AND PRE-INDUSTRIAL COMPARATIVE DEVELOPMENT.

This study explores the interaction between trade and geography in shaping the Islamic economic doctrine. We build a model where an unequal distribution of land quality in presence of trade opportunities conferred differential gains from trade across regions, fostering predatory behavior by groups residing in the poorly endowed territories. We show that in such an environment it was mutually beneficial to institute an economic system of income redistribution featuring income transfers in return for safe passage to conduct trade. A commitment problem, however, rendered a merely static redistribution scheme unsustainable. Islam developed a set of dynamic redistributive rules that were self-enforcing, in regions where arid lands dominated the landscape. While such principles fostered the expansion of trade within the Muslim world they limited the accumulation of wealth by the commercial elite, shaping the economic trajectory of Islamic lands in the pre-industrial era.

Parallel imports and innovation in an emerging economy: the case of Indian pharmaceuticals.

This paper studies the impact of the re-importation of imitated pharmaceuticals as a by-product of an open policy toward parallel import (PI) on process innovation. Foreign investment by a firm to exploit a new unregulated market with weak intellectual property rights can give rise to imitation. These products can potentially re-enter the original country when PI is allowed influencing research and development (R&D) incentives. In an emerging economy with technologically heterogeneous firms, trade costs shift PI-related market share losses from the more to the less R&D efficient firm, inducing the former to strategically increase R&D. PI accompanied by tariffs also induces higher R&D effort by the technologically inferior firm when it results in an expansion of its sales abroad. A tariff on PI is most likely to increase welfare when the technological gap between the two firms at home is sufficiently large.

Trade and Geography in the Spread of Islam.

In this study we explore the historical determinants of contemporary Muslim representation. Motivated by a plethora of case studies and historical accounts among Islamicists stressing the role of trade for the adoption of Islam, we construct detailed data on pre-Islamic trade routes, harbors, and ports to determine the empirical regularity of this argument. Our analysis - conducted across countries and across ethnic groups within countries - establishes that proximity to the pre-600 CE trade network is a robust predictor of today's Muslim adherence in the Old World. We also show that Islam spread successfully in regions that are ecologically similar to the birthplace of the religion, the Arabian Peninsula. Namely, territories characterized by a large share of arid and semiarid regions dotted with few pockets of fertile land are more likely to host Muslim communities. We discuss the various mechanisms that may give rise to the observed pattern.